Congress designed the New Bankruptcy Law, called the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act, and others as a way of reducing the number of fraudulent bankruptcies or bankruptcy abuses filed in the United States. The act was signed into law by President Bush in April of 2005 and went into effect for all bankruptcies filed on or after October 17, 2005. After this date, it became more difficult for individuals to file bankruptcy in the country. One of the additions to this law was that it was now mandatory that individuals not file more than one time in every six years, for Chapter 7 bankruptcy. Chapter 13 files may file more often, but there are limitations. The law has made it more difficult for people to abuse bankruptcy by filing frequently.